Entries from February 2009
Not if we heed the lesson Jeremiah has to teach us:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed”’?”
And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’ “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.
“And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’ [Jer 32:1ff].
Let him who has ears, hear.
Categories: Church Life
Because for Baptists repentance can’t be confined to a mere 40 day period preceded by the most intense gluttony and occupied with the setting aside of trivial pleasantries and followed by a return to the same old same old. True repentance, real repentance, authentic repentance is a 365 and 1/4 day a year occupation which, if pretentiously or lightly observed becomes nothing more than a joke and a charade and a mockery. Semper Reformanda… That’s who Baptists are.
Categories: Announcements
Anyone ‘in the trenches’ of church life knows that American Churches are on the decline and losing members at an unhealthy clip. Recent research just confirms what we already knew.
Membership in the Roman Catholic Church declined 0.59 per cent and the Southern Baptist Convention declined 0.24 per cent, according to the 2009 edition of the Yearbook, edited by the National Council of Churches and published by Abingdon. The figures indicate that the Catholic church lost 398,000 members since the appearance of the 2008 Yearbook. Southern Baptists lost nearly 40,000 members.
And
Neither figure is earth-shattering given the size of the churches. Roman Catholics compose the nation’s largest church with a membership of 67,117,016, and Southern Baptists rank second in the nation at 16,266,920. But this year’s reported decline raises eyebrows because Catholic and Southern Baptist membership has grown dependably over the years. Now they join virtually every mainline church in reporting a membership decline.
And perhaps more interestingly
According to the 2009 Yearbook, among the 25 largest churches in the U.S., four are growing: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (up 1.63 per cent to 5,873,408; the Assemblies of God (up 0.96 per cent to 2,863,265); Jehovah’s Witnesses (up 2.12 per cent to 1,092,169); and the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn. (up 2.04 per cent to 1,053,642).
It’s interesting that two of the four fastest growing religious groups are cults: the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Categories: Church Life
Sunday is our Food Drive and Fellowship Meal. Please remember to bring your items.
On March 11 (at the next business meeting) the Church will vote on two men to serve as Deacons: Joey G and Rusty L. Please be in prayer both for them and for the Church as it seeks Christ’s leadership in this matter.
Categories: Announcements
Big Emory will host the 2009 VBS training session on April 4th at Trenton Street BC 9:00 am-Noon . Contact Amy Stafford at 865-882-6441 for more information.
Categories: Church Life
Every Church member really needs to know what our principles and procedures are. Of course the Bible is our primary source for all faith and practice, and second to it is the Church Constitution and By-Laws. You can obtain a nicely bound and professionally produced copy of the Constitution and By-Laws here.
Categories: Church Life
You can read about it here.
Categories: Church Life
Kindly remember the family of Allie L., who passed away this morning.
Categories: Prayer Request
